Tom turns ire on Dalaguete town

After Talisay City, will Dalaguete town be the next recipient of Mayor Tomas Osmeña's ire?

This after Osmeña yesterday said he will withdraw the P100,000 donation for Dalaguete supposedly for the "balik probinsiya" program during the ASEAN Summit in December.

Osmeña got irked over the statement of Dalaguete Mayor and League of Municipalities-Cebu Chapter President Ronald Cesante that with or without the P100,000 for the "balik probinsiya" program, people will still go back to their hometowns especially during long breaks like the four-day holiday during the ASEAN Summit.

While there was reportedly no malice in Cesante's words, Osmeña was not at all happy with the statement. "Hey, then I will not give him, I can promise you that...I'll just give it to somebody else," he said.

Osmeña also said Dalaguete can no longer expect support from the city government. "He's just making hambog by saying that," Osmeña added.

But Cesante denied making a statement either rejecting or accepting Osmeña's proposal for financial assistance to the towns in the province to be used in holding festivals to keep the people away from Cebu City during the summit.

Cesante clarified he just primarily expressed his personal view on the matter by stating a fact that people normally go back to their respective hometowns during holidays and that there was "no intent to hurt, no malice on his part" when he issued the said statement.

"In fact, the town mayors are supportive of any initiative to make Cebu's hosting of the summit successful," he said.

He further said he did not even tackle the financial aspect of the said proposal when he raised to the governor during a dinner meeting called by the latter and attended by at least 30 town mayors last Tuesday night.

And since the mayor and the governor have yet to meet to discuss the details of the said proposal, the governor even told them that they will extensively go over the matter in another meeting.

Osmeña's determination to keep people away from city streets during the four-day summit from December 11 to 14 may cost the city government more than what it originally intends to spend for the event.

Earlier, Osmeña said that except for Talisay City, he will give P100,000 financial aid to each municipality and city in the province for them to embark on "balik-probinsiya" activities that would lure people to their hometowns.

Cebu City is currently in sour terms with Talisay City over the South Reclamation Project.

Likewise, Osmeña said this would also give out-of-town businessmen a chance to attract consumers who would attend the activities. The end result, he said, would be an infusion of money into the municipalities and cities. -Joeberth M. Ocao and Cristina C. Birondo